Bring On the Bulls

Ride a bull for a living, and you can be the richest rag doll on earth. All you have to do is last eight excruciating seconds on an agitated 1,800-lb. animal that would like nothing more than to smash you against the sideboards of the arena, fling you off its back and gore you with its horns. On the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) tour, concussions and broken bones are as common as Wranglers and brass-buckled belts. "Most bull riders are what you call gristleheads," says Mike Lee, 23, who has won $2 million in five years of riding. "If you're intelligent,...